"So, we've fished it up. Now what?" Liu Ji placed the stone jar on the ground and casually shook off the black mud clinging to his hands.
"Wait. What's with them?" Yaine pointed to the side with her thumb.
"Them?" Liu Ji followed her gesture and saw the potatolings that were sleeping in the basket had climbed out and were now huddled together and shivering at the far edge of the stone wall.
"Uh, probably scared by whatever is in that jar," Liu Ji said. "They've been on edge ever since we entered the swamp."
"Hmm, is that so…" Yaine crossed her arms, tapping her fingers rhythmically on her elbow. "Sothing still doesn't feel right…"
"What doesn't feel right?" Liu Ji asked, puzzled.
"It just feels off." Yaine frowned. "Say, what if this thing ant for us to catch it? Or perhaps there are a few of them cramd inside?"
"Huh?" Liu Ji blinked several tis. "Is this thing that smart?"
"Who knows." Yaine shrugged. "But… I think, maybe we should get a corpse specin first?"
"That works too?" Liu Ji scratched his head. "But isn't it usually better to catch them alive?"
"True, but…" Yaine mulled. "Look, if we caught one so easily, then maybe these things are dumb, and we can easily catch another one."
Liu Ji nodded in agreent.
"Right, so if that's the case, killing this one won't be a loss," Yaine said. "On the other hand, if there's sothing sketchy going on, we can nip it in the bud."
"Uh… Makes sense." Liu Ji nodded again. While he didn't fully understand why Yaine was being so cautious, logically, her plan was sound.
If it was easy to catch, they could catch one more next ti.
If it was hard to catch, then sothing was definitely up.
Either way, they never had a corpse specin previously, so this would be a good start.
Within the jar, the creature poised to burst out and wreak havoc hadn't anticipated a jet black magic array was gradually forming over it.
The casting of this spell lasted for 10 minutes, with Yaine chanting in a tongue-twisting sequence that seed to echo with multiple layers of incantations. Liu Ji could even hear what sounded like two, even three, different simultaneous chants as the magic array above her spiraled with interlocking layers.
The complexity of Yaine's spell and the difficulty of incantation made Liu Ji's head spin just by witnessing it. It was like a higher calculus problem compared to simple algebra.
As the magical energy intensified, the creature inside the jar seed to sense the danger. It began to thrash and ram itself against the jar's walls, causing tiny cracks to form.
Just that it was too late by the ti it realized.
The intricate magic array revolved and aligned, forming a straight line in midair. Then, with a flick of Yaine's staff, a slender streak of golden lightning snaked down from the array, piercing through the jar's cracks.
The creature's struggle ceased for a mont, then resud with even greater ferocity, shaking the jar violently until the cracks spread across like a spider web.
Liu Ji was given quite a scare. He instinctively wanted to do sothing but was unsure of what to. Thus, he stood in front of Yaine, ready to act as a shield, just as Myza had taught him.
anwhile, the stone jar reached its breaking point. The jar shattered, releasing a mass of writhing black tendrils, and amid them, a bloodshot eye glared at Liu Ji.
Liu Ji felt a chill running down his spine. Nurous tiny and dense black pupils, like a swarm of bugs, filled up the bulging red eye.
In the next instant, a golden current surged through the eye, causing it to explode. Dark blood oozed from the now blackened and hollow socket as a horrific shriek echoed from the creature.
A clawed hand erged from the jar, its entire arm covered in grotesque, decaying hooks. The hooks dug into the hard ground, cracking rock as the thing tried to pull itself out.
However, another golden current surged, and the creature's arm exploded with a pop, spilling thick black liquid that corroded a hole in the stone ground beneath.
The noise woke the others, who then erged from their tents to witness the horrific scene. Girunini and rvant drew their weapons, ready to strike.
But Calidora stopped them.
"Don't! That's Yaine's arcane lightning spell. You'll get caught in it!" she warned. "Once cast, it spreads uncontrollably."
While she said all this, golden lightning had already shredded the creature's arm, reducing it to ashes. But at this point, another arm grew out, smashing through the jar and sending stone fragnts flying all over.
"Damn, what is that thing…" Girunini lowered her weapon though her eyes glowed a brighter red.
"A swamp monster," Osar said. "I imagined it being disgusting, but this is much worse."
"Obviously, I can tell that it is a swamp monster…" Girunini muttered as she watched on.
The creature continued to roar, having already forced itself halfway out of the jar. Golden electricity flashed all over it continuously, blowing pieces of it into a black muddy pulp.
But very quickly, its body would regenerate once the lightning passed.
"I can't see through this thing. Its magic is too chaotic," rvant said, the gold in his eyes dimming. "Nini, do you see anything?"
"Blood. Blood of many people," Girunini's voice wavered. "Each bit is small, but there's so much… I've never seen blood like this. What is this thing…"
As she said that, the creature roared furiously as its body swelled even more, and the stone jar shattered completely.
But at that mont, Yaine's second layer of incantation was complete; a gravitational force with a hundredfold tis its weight crushed the creature, pinning its tendrils and claws to the ground.
Golden lightning continued to streak on, tearing apart the monster bit by bit.
At the sa ti, Yaine's third layer of incantation reached its climax. A tiny fla descended from the sky, and upon coming into contact with the creature, ignited and engulfed it in a blazing inferno.
————
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Sowhere underground.
An old man in a black cloak turned back abruptly, dim light revealing his gray, multi-pupiled eyes.
"Destroyed already?" He squinted. "Impressive. Seems I underestimated you…"
With a smirk, he said, "Alright then, co at . It's been a long ti since I encountered a high-quality prey…"
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